taking charge
by lauraxtennant
Summary: The Doctor realises that he likes it when Rose takes control of a situation.


They had just accidentally-on-purpose instigated an uprising on the planet Balfourti when it happened.

The authorities, needless to say, weren't too keen on the Doctor and Rose getting involved in their business. They rounded them up and proclaimed them to be the ringleaders, and declared they would serve their punishment in prison, without trial. Not even the Doctor could talk his way out of it, and soon him and Rose had been escorted to the nearest highest ranking official.

"They will need to be separated," the official told the guards. "Goddess Ciantia knows what they'd do if they are detained together. Local intelligence says that the blonde one is the brains of the operation; best not give them any opportunity to plan an escape together."

The Doctor, whose superior Time Lord hearing allowed him to eavesdrop on every word he was saying, even from the distance between them and the official in question, huffed indignantly.

"What is it?" Rose asked him, and the guard holding her arms behind her back told her to shush. She ignored him. "What did they say?"

"They said they're gonna separate us because you - you! - might think of way to get us out of the prison."

"And why wouldn't I?" she retorted, eyebrows raising. "Or are you forgetting that I saved your arse from getting roasted the other day when you were tied to a stake on Lex Seven?"

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Oh, yeah. That was…that was a good day."

She stared at him.

"I just mean, because you were so - " He floundered for the right word. "Useful. That day. That was why it was good. Not because I nearly died."

"Useful," she repeated.

"Mmhmm." In truth, that day would be forever burned into his memory - pardon the pun - for the simple reason that was this: Rose shouting angrily at the crowd to let her through, and the way she'd wielded his sonic screwdriver, pretending it could set off a solar flare that would alert the Shadow Proclamation, had absolutely blown his mind. He always found her attractive, of course, but there was something about the way she looked when she was taking charge -

He swallowed hard. Probably shouldn't focus on that right now. Or at all, ever.

The official and the guard he was talking to moved closer to them then, and the Doctor reckoned he should probably start thinking about how he was going to get them out of this mess, rather than getting preoccupied with thoughts of Rose and all the ways he could let her take charge in the future.

"Officer Pturi, you take the woman to the cells in Quadrant Eight."

Rose's eyes flashed with alarm and she defiantly called out, "No, I don't think so. You ever heard of rights? Think you should read me mine, first, ta, if I'm getting arrested."

The Doctor knew she was stalling for time, probably assuming they would be making a run for it at some point in the next few minutes, but they were outrageously outnumbered. They'd have to wait until they had been taken to the prison before they legged it.

Still, he'd let her do her thing. It was quite something, after all. He especially liked it when she'd start making up rules and regulations pertaining to galactic law. She was so_ imaginative. _He wondered whether -

The official coughed to gain their attention, and rolled his three eyes as he turned to another guard. "And you, Officer Demetri, you take lover boy to Quadrant Sixteen."

The Doctor's eyes widened. Why did he think he was Rose's - oh, no. Immediately, he put up defences in his mind, realising he'd let his telepathic barriers slip. The Balfourtians of the higher classes could read minds, and this official was probably one of them.

But he couldn't let the insult go without comment. "Oi, Three Eyes - I'm a man, ta very much."

He saw Rose glance at him in surprise, but he couldn't work out whether she was surprised that he'd insulted the fellow who was about to put them in prison - which, now he thought about it, was quite high on his list of Stupidest Ideas Ever, but never mind - or whether she was surprised that he'd nitpicked that element of the official's statement. Rather than the other - less obvious, in his opinion - falsehood in his claim.

"Whatever you are, neither one of you are natives and therefore - " Here, the official turned to Rose. "Neither of you have any 'rights.' You'll be detained for a minimum of seventeen cycles. Take them away."

Rose shot the Doctor a confused look. A look that said, 'what the hell are you playing at, why haven't we escaped yet?' A look that quite possibly also said, 'why are you just standing there like a muppet?' It might, in point of fact, also have said, 'are you just going to watch the woman you love get dragged away from you without doing a thing to stop it?' But that last one might just have been him projecting.

::

Thankfully, Rose had made friends with a few locals earlier in the locals managed to break her out of prison, and to be honest, they weren't too fussed on getting the Doctor out too, until Rose had persuaded them she needed him, and that he'd been instrumental to their rebellion.

She didn't know what he'd been playing at, earlier. Totally not in peak form. Well, plan-wise. Looks-wise, he was doing very well. He'd pulled out all the stops today, she thought, biting her lip as her eyes dropped to his chest, where his tie was conspicuously missing and a few undone buttons exposed a bit of chest hair.

They were back in the TARDIS, now, after a very brisk jog across the square where the uprising had started this morning. Luckily, the crowds had moved on, and taken the capital, ending an era of dictatorial rule, or so the Doctor had told her, as they sprinted past the now historical site.

She flopped down on the jumpseat to recover from their run. "So, want to tell me what was up with you, before?" she asked him, as he piloted them into the vortex.

He shook his head, feigning confusion, and her eyes narrowed. "Dunno what you mean," he said carefully.

"Yeah, right." She patted the seat next to her. "Come here and tell me what's wrong."

At this, he looked genuinely surprised. "Why do you think something's wrong?"

"'Cos usually you're more…focussed. On what's going on, and how to stop it. If those rebels hadn't helped get me out…"

He sat down next to her with a sigh, and took her hand, linking their fingers together. "I'm sorry. You're right, I should've been more…" He trailed off, and slunk down a little in his seat.

She leant her head against his shoulder. "It's all right. I'm just worried, that's all."

"The truth is, I - " He paused, blew out a whoosh of breath, and continued, "I'm a bit embarrassed to say it. But the other day, when I had to get the escape plan across to you quickly before the pirate made us walk the plank?"

Rose smiled. The things they did, blimey. Him saying it like that, just casually mentioning the word pirate, well. It made her realise just how fraught with danger their travels could be. And how absolutely bonkers and _fun._

"I remember," she answered him. "You had to go in my head to tell me, so they wouldn't hear."

"Yes." He tugged on his ear. "Or rather, you had to go into mine. And that required me to lower my telepathic shields. Problem was, I forgot to put them back up."

"Doesn't sound like you," she murmured, glancing up at him.

"No. Well. I was distracted."

She watched his Adam's apple bob, and wondered why he looked so nervous. "Doctor - "

"Anyway! That big fella with the three eyes, he was telepathic - read me like a book. Disorientated me a bit."

"Blimey," Rose said. "You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine. Sorted it, now. No unwanted visitors in my head from now on."

"Okay, good," she said, squeezing his hand. She snuggled closer to him. "I dunno, nearly walking the plank, nearly getting burned at the stake, getting locked up…what's next, eh?"

"Maybe we should have a few quiet days in," he mused.

Rose laughed, assuming he was joking.

"No, I'm serious." He let go of her hand and slid his arm around her shoulders instead, tucking her into his side. She curled into him, resting her hand on his chest. "I'm exhausted. Don't laugh, Rose Tyler. I know you're tired too."

"Yeah, I am a bit." They quietened, and just sat there in a comfortable silence for a little while, until a thought occurred to Rose that she just had to voice. "Hold on. If he was reading your mind…"

"Mmm?"

"Why did he think you were my - you know."

"What?"

She sat up straight and looked at him. "You remember. He said - he called you my - my lover. Why would he think that?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh. Dunno."

He scratched at the back of his neck, so she knew he was lying through his teeth.

"Yeah, you do. What was that all about?"

He gulped. "Might've - uh." He cleared his throat. "Might've been thinking about something that could've, potentially, possibly, made him come to that conclusion."

Rose's pulse sped up. "Oh? What's that, then?"

Jumping up, putting some distance between them, the Doctor moved over to the console, leaning against it, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nothing, really, just, you know."

"No, I don't know, that's why I'm asking."

"It was nothing, honestly, just a - a stray thought."

"About…?" Rose stood up, and rounded on him, determined to get him to answer her properly.

"I was just thinking about - er, the way you - "

"Yeah?" She folded her arms, fixing him a glare. "Spit it out, Doctor."

He shifted awkwardly, and withdrew his hands from his pockets to grip the edge of the console. "Just…"

"Doctor, come on. Tell me."

::

He realised he wasn't gonna be able to get himself out of this situation, and with the way she was advancing on him, he wasn't sure he wanted to. Blimey, why did he find her ordering people about so sexy?

There must be something wrong with him.

"Doctor if you don't tell me what you were thinking about, then I'm just gonna start jumping to conclusions myself. And you probably don't want to know what I'll come up with."

Oh, fuck, but he did.

"So?" she said, putting a hand on her hip, looking at him expectantly.

Throat dry, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get the words out. Eventually, he managed to croak, "The thing is, every time you tell someone off, or call upon that excellent imagination of yours to cite some made-up law of space and time, I find myself wanting to just…"

Her eyes widened. "What, Doctor?"

Oh, screw it. "Rose. You being all - all dominant, it, well." He swallowed. "It's the most erotic thing I've ever seen."

Rose gaped at him.

"Is that - that's not right, is it? That's not - sorry. Sorry! I don't know why - " He shook his head, frantically. "I don't know why I feel like that, I don't know why I told you, oh blimey, just - let's just pretend I didn't say that. Hmm? What do you say, pretend this day never happened?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to forget something like that, to be honest," she answered, reaching a hand up to fiddle with her earring. "When did this all start, then?"

"What? Oh. I - I don't know. Ages ago." He tilted his head to the side, considering. "I can't remember when I first properly noticed." She looked like she was assessing him, as though she was thinking on some sort of proposition he hadn't actually made. "Rose? Are you…angry? Or - "

"Or," she said, "Am I interested? That's what you were gonna say, right?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Well."

Rose stepped closer, and grabbed him by the lapels. He straightened his posture, staring down at her with wide eyes. "Bit thoughtless of you to forget your tie today, Doctor."

He glanced down. "Oh." Then, he smirked. "Well, actually, I was under the impression that you liked it when I didn't wear one."

She yanked him down to eye level. "You're right about that. But today, could really do with a tie."

"Why's that?" he asked, but he knew, he knew exactly what she was gonna say, he could see the glint in her eye and the way she had wetted her bottom lip with her tongue, and he _knew. _His cock knew, too.

"So that I could use it to drag you to bed, obviously," she replied, then leant in so close her lips brushed his as she next spoke, "And then use that imagination of mine to see what we could do with it _in_ bed."

He groaned, he couldn't help it, and when she deftly turned them around and pushed him back into the jumpseat, he found himself glad that he'd forgone one today, if this was her reaction. Because as enticing as her suggestion was -

She straddled his lap, pinned his arms to the seat, and ground down on him firmly.

\- he was completely certain that her method of punishment would be all the more innovative without one.


End file.
